Lightning's Shadow

Lightning's Shadow is a Ranked "battle tower" event, offered as part of the Final Fantasy XIII Collaboration Event. It features solo battles against Lightning's Shadow.

Event Details
Event type: progressive Tower Battle

How to Participate

 * Select "Lightning's Shadow" from the world map
 * This event is only accessible after a player clears the Runic Temple in Chapter 1

Story
Wol is wandering along one of the tracks in the Hanging Edge when Lightning approaches... as a foe! She spouts some typical lines, but has none of the focus that Wol has come to expect -- it's a shadow. It's unclear what's going on, but answers will only be found on the other end of battle.

First appearance
"She's waiting for you. Hone your paradigms and face the toughest of foes! Warriors of Light, to arms! The Ranked Battle is on!"

- In-game description

The first appearance made use of the paradigm play system from Lightning Resurrection, Part 1 and Part 2, and assumed players had completed the full progression of advancement in the Crystarium I and II. The lower levels could be defeated without paradigms, but higher levels practically required their use.
 * September 23, 2017 – October 1, 2017

Second appearance
"She is waiting... And the more of her you defeat, the stronger she gets! Are you warrior enough to break the Lightning?"

- In-game description

The second appearance did away with paradigms, leaving a fairly standard Ranked Battle Tower, with the exception of Lightning's own use of them. Difficulty was dropped for the more powerful enemies... but not by much, since expert players were expected to have greatly built up their Card Sets by this point.
 * April 23, 2018 – May 1, 2018

Event Map
"The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows. She's waiting for you, a smile on her lips. Unleash the power of the paradigms and face Lightning's Shadow!"

- World Map description

The ladder is composed of 13 steps up, with each step progressively harder than the last. The player cannot return to these areas once they are completed. Each level features some FFXIII enemies, with later Sites adding a heavy-hitting Sicarius to the mix.  Lightning's Shadow is the last foe for every area.

Starting at the 5th Site, Lightning begins using paradigms, with a small difference: instead of Sentinel, she has a Medic paradigm. Starting at the 9th Site, Lightning also gets Starting Boons and Clutch Boons.

After completing the ladder, the player enters the "Phantasmic Coil" areas. This is a set of 4 areas that repeat in an infinite loop, also with an increasing difficulty with each area finished. A Prize is handed out for each loop of 4 completed.

There are 18 total areas and 14 treasure chests. Since the last treasure chest (in the Phantasmic Coil) automatically regenerates, the last chest can technically never be completed.

Fiends

 * Boss
 * Lightning's Shadow


 * Sub-boss
 * Bahamut (Sicarius)
 * Odin (Sicarius)
 * Hecatoncheir (Sicarius)
 * Demon Wall
 * Dullahan
 * Kraken
 * Manasvin Warmech
 * Marilith
 * Storm Dragon


 * Standard (FFXIII)
 * Ghasts
 * PSICOM Soldiers
 * Pantherons


 * Standard (Mobius)
 * Grudge Assassin (Wind)
 * Grudge Wizard (Earth)
 * Microchu
 * Gloom Bomb
 * Radiant Bomb
 * Shadow Samurai (Fire)
 * Shadow Sorcerer (Fire)

Reference

 * Mobius News Page Announcement, Sep 2017
 * Mobius News Page Announcement, Sep 2017
 * Final Fantasy XIII Collaboration Event